So I got on Diaspora and dumped Facebook (and Google) because of all the paranoid geeky stuff about them manipulating news and spying on people and using all your stuff to take over the world.

I ran away from systemd on Linux because of all the paranoid geeky stuff I read on Diaspora about how Red Hat and Microsoft (and the NSA, FBI, Illuminati, and who knows, some alien race from the Eighth Dimension) are using systemd on Linux to take over the world and enslave Linux users.

As it turns out, in spite of Monstanto, GMOs, vaccines, the Left, the Right, Microsoft, Google, the Borg, Canonical, Red Hat, and systemd, my computer and my privacy are as safe as anyone who ever connects to the Internet on any device or platform can expect to be.

Who is manipulating who here? Who is really thriving on the fears of others here?

People told us to stop flying the American flag and stop showing our support for the military and first responders or else we could be targeted for violence, blacklisting, discrimination, etc. Did I take down my flag? Hell no. Let them come. I’ll gut them if they bring their threats beyond my front door.

And guess what else? I’ve got a systemd-equipped Linux distro running because it works better on my machine than the two systemd-free distros I tried. And y’know what else? I rejoined Facebook today. I’m using it with my eyes open and sensible precautions in place. I’ll keep my Diaspora but I’m making big changes there. All that paranoia and conspiracy stuff is not good for people who have ever been diagnosed with depression, whatever the cause.

All I can say now is,

I didn’t take my flag down. And I’m not avoiding systemd, Facebook, Google, or any other tool that serves me.

I’ll use the Internet wisely, my systemd-equipped Linux distro wisely, and Facebook wisely. Just like I do with my car, my firearms, my power tools, and anything else that requires a little thought and caution. I’m not throwing away all the perfectly good tools that make modern life so nice and so rich.

I’m through running away from phantoms. If and when the time comes to fight, against whoever the bad guys are, I’ll fight and die like a Klingon in glorious battle. In the meantime time, all you anti-vaccine, anti-Google, and anti-everything-that-isn’t-home-grown-or-home-made people can kiss my grits.

Hey, I just had a thought…. maybe my medicine is working now after all!

Doing my FedEx Ground delivery route last week I came across something that just made my stomach do flips, and apparently it bothered me more than I thought, since I’m still pissed off about it three days later.

It was some kid’s birthday party or something. There was a bounce house, children’s music playing, and several kids gathered. Two were using the bounce house. The rest were all over the yard and some were playing in the street. Where were the parents? Who’s watching those kids?

Oh, there they are. Sitting around on lawn chairs, not even looking up from their cellphones and tablets. Not speaking to each other, not minding the kids. Every. Single. One of them. I slowed to avoid hitting any kids that might run into the street, and kept watching for some sign that at least one of the adults there was paying attention. Nope. Not even one.

“Wait, let me take a selfie.”

Eyes glued to their devices, fingers and thumbs racing across electronic keys, watching videos and taking selfies for posting to social-media. I wanted to stop, get out of the truck, and lecture the mind-numbed zombie-like idiots whose little kids were all over the place, unsupervised because their parents are glued to their stupid devices. They weren’t even aware of each other, much less their children. I didn’t stop and lecture them, though. I like my job and I need it too much.

But I also like kids, and I care about their safety even if their stupid parents don’t. So I beeped the horn in the hope that at least one of the adults would look up for a moment and see what was happening. Nope! No one did. Freakin’ dolts. So I called the cops and reported children in danger.